Didn't we fight this war 150 years ago? South lost cuz old Bobby Lee took my advice to invade Pennsylvania. (I was a spy authorized by Mr. Lincoln to pass on bad advice whenever I could. Worked, too. )

P.S. Where's Skunk? Where the new guy, tennisgeek? Where are the college boys, Schmad and PP?

Sevilla is just an hour away; Cadiz, reportedly the oldest continuously populated urban area in Europe, is right across the bay; Granada is an easy drive into the Sierra Nevada mountains (great skiing); the Costa del Sol starts at Cadiz and runs all the way to Barcelona.

1) me and nitefly went out and shot some serving videos yesterday and now for the first time ever my right shoulder (serving shoulder) is in pain. as in i cant move my right shoulder up past 90 degrees above my head. i didnt hear a pop or anything and i'm sure its just sore from the serving practice. i would normally take some time off and i should be fine but... i have a practice match against a 3.5 later today. the bigger problem is that i'm in 2 tournaments starting tomorrow and i have a match for each tomorrow, one at 3:30pm and one at 8:00pm. stupid draw. so any advice on what to do for the shoulder? this is the first time sometime like this has happened to me so i'm kind of clueless.

2) first time i met tfm, we hit for an hour indoors to get ready for the santa bowl. later that day, i hit for 2 hours with my doubles partner. i cramped up at the end of the second set. last week, i played 4 sets of doubles with the jjjoshes and started cramping up really bad at the end of the 4th set. i'm worried about cramping tomorrow cause i'll be playing against a 4.0 in my 8pm match. i remember jrs telling me to drink lots of gatorade and eat some bananas. any other suggestions on what i should do?

any help would be appreciated. i really really hope i don't get destroyed in both my matches tomorrow... :???:

VIKTORRz ADVICE for PPLibuprofen - it works wonders.technique - i used to jam my shoulder a lot when serving because I wasn't throwing the toss out in front enough. now that i have changed my service motion... much less pain the day after playing in the ol' shoulder.water - lots of it.. drink it the night before... the day of, and during!
i felt like krap for the last 2 days, all due to not drinking enough during the French Open drinking/honeypig/tennis fest!
sup is probably still recovering too!

2) first time i met tfm, we hit for an hour indoors to get ready for the santa bowl. later that day, i hit for 2 hours with my doubles partner. i cramped up at the end of the second set. last week, i played 4 sets of doubles with the jjjoshes and started cramping up really bad at the end of the 4th set. i'm worried about cramping tomorrow cause i'll be playing against a 4.0 in my 8pm match. i remember jrs telling me to drink lots of gatorade and eat some bananas. any other suggestions on what i should do?

any help would be appreciated. i really really hope i don't get destroyed in both my matches tomorrow... :???:

oh, ppl, that's such sucky timing! i think that you know what the best course of action is (rest). ironically, the first time i ever had shoulder issues was after playing with you last month! it was fine after a few days' rest, but you don't have the luxury of time.

do you absolutely have to play your practice match today? maybe you could intensively pamper your shoulder for the next 24 hours with ice/heat?

nope, no love today. "big bag of suck" pretty much sums up my match this morning. i was so tight that i couldn't brush the ball to save my sorry life. since i was incapable of following through with my shots today, my "jihad tennis" translated to drop-shots and serving & volleying. and if you've seen my serves, or my volleys, you know what a suicide mission that was. but since i'd reached the existential plane of utter despair (down 3-6, love-40 in the second set), i served & volleyed with everything i had (not much) and mangaged to get to 4(!) deuce points before flaming out. baise ma vie indeed.

nope, no love today. "big bag of suck" pretty much sums up my match this morning. i was so tight that i couldn't brush the ball to save my sorry life. since i was incapable of following through with my shots today, my "jiha'ad tennis" translated to drop-shots and serving & volleying. and if you've seen my serves, or my volleys, you know what a suicide mission that was. but since i'd reached the existential plane of utter despair (down 3-6, love-40 in the second set), i served & volleyed with everything i had (not much) and mangaged to get to 4(!) deuce points before flaming out. baise ma vie indeed.

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I feel you on that one. Lack of practice has my game in the basement right now too.

Outside of tennis - things are just blech! I think it's this weather. Something is seriously out of whack! Not like an average sunny june at all.

VIKTORRz ADVICE for PPLibuprofen - it works wonders.technique - i used to jam my shoulder a lot when serving because I wasn't throwing the toss out in front enough. now that i have changed my service motion... much less pain the day after playing in the ol' shoulder.water - lots of it.. drink it the night before... the day of, and during!
i felt like krap for the last 2 days, all due to not drinking enough during the French Open drinking/honeypig/tennis fest!
sup is probably still recovering too!

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Hey, Dats, looks like we might - just might, mind you - sneak in some tennis at Kenmore between the monsoons. We'll have to swim through the humidity, but I can hack it (literally) for an hour or so. We still on, right? Any other takers?

I'll have to remember this for another FML option... awesome... also know anyplace in the newmarket/fredrick area w/ a hitting wall? Getting the urge to play wallball after sitting on my @$$ here at work all day...

any help would be appreciated. i really really hope i don't get destroyed in both my matches tomorrow... :???:

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Sorry bud, best I can offer is ice, rest, and if you need to play extra-strength motrin! maybe after some of that and playing in the humidity it will loosen up enough to gut it out... otherwise best case might be just rest

1) me and nitefly went out and shot some serving videos yesterday and now for the first time ever my right shoulder (serving shoulder) is in pain. as in i cant move my right shoulder up past 90 degrees above my head. i didnt hear a pop or anything and i'm sure its just sore from the serving practice. i would normally take some time off and i should be fine but... i have a practice match against a 3.5 later today. the bigger problem is that i'm in 2 tournaments starting tomorrow and i have a match for each tomorrow, one at 3:30pm and one at 8:00pm. stupid draw. so any advice on what to do for the shoulder? this is the first time sometime like this has happened to me so i'm kind of clueless.

2) first time i met tfm, we hit for an hour indoors to get ready for the santa bowl. later that day, i hit for 2 hours with my doubles partner. i cramped up at the end of the second set. last week, i played 4 sets of doubles with the jjjoshes and started cramping up really bad at the end of the 4th set. i'm worried about cramping tomorrow cause i'll be playing against a 4.0 in my 8pm match. i remember jrs telling me to drink lots of gatorade and eat some bananas. any other suggestions on what i should do?

any help would be appreciated. i really really hope i don't get destroyed in both my matches tomorrow... :???:

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Sorry to hear that! If it makes you feel any better, your serves looked good in the video. Great knee bend!

Like everyone else has said... I would go with ice and anti-inflammatory meds for #1. Aleve is good.

#1 - What strings are you using? I had my first bout of shoulder pain after using poly for about two weeks. It got cut right out immediately. Other than that, ice and ibuprofen (or better yet, Aleve). And, lots of rest. Remember, if you need to, there will be other tournaments. You only have one serving shoulder.

#2 - Water. Water. More water. Gatorade is nothing but sugar. Water. Start the night before (like Dats said), and keep going until well after you're done. Bananas don't really help that much. Stop eating McD's and eat some real food and nourish your body.

Sorry holmes, I won't get off work until about 7pm today. Anyone down for a Thursday Wakefield hit? Assuming it doesn't rain... which it will.

PPL - I'm gonna say what Sup said to me (which I hate to hear) but that racket is probably too heavy for you. I used to do like Hollywood and spend 2-3 hours a day just practicing my serve... absolutely no pain afterwards. I wasn't using a 12.1 oz stick though. I'm not sure if I could do the same now using my MGPP. You probably have lead on your MGPP as well I'm guessing. You should probably just rest it... a few days of no tennis is better than 5 months, which is what happened to me last year.

TFM - I will try and start a TW Spain thread. I found that there is a tennis academy nearby Rota... at least I can go there and get beat by all the 12 year old Spanish kids.

Sorry holmes, I won't get off work until about 7pm today. Anyone down for a Thursday Wakefield hit? Assuming it doesn't rain... which it will.

PPL - I'm gonna say what Sup said to me (which I hate to hear) but that racket is probably too heavy for you. I used to do like Hollywood and spend 2-3 hours a day just practicing my serve... absolutely no pain afterwards. I wasn't using a 12.1 oz stick though. I'm not sure if I could do the same now using my MGPP. You probably have lead on your MGPP as well I'm guessing. You should probably just rest it... a few days of no tennis is better than 5 months, which is what happened to me last year.

TFM - I will try and start a TW Spain thread. I found that there is a tennis academy nearby Rota... at least I can go there and get beat by all the 12 year old Spanish kids.

I need to make more sangria...

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Have a match this Thursday.

Also, yes, PPL...JRK brings up a good point about the weight of your racquet. You don't get extra 'man' points for every ounce of lead on your racquet!!!!!

jrp: i don't know of any hitting walls in town. and normally, i'd offer to hit with you but it's too flipping hot tonight and besides, i'll be busy drowning myself in the pool.

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Enjoy the pool! Think I might venture out and see if i could find one... otherwise I might have to settle for heading to baker park and making friends. Granted the humidity sticks around I may need to break out the Rafa sleevless shirts and blind everyone with my tennis/golf tan ha!

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 515 PM EDT FOR BALTIMORE CITY... HARFORD... BALTIMORE... FAIRFAX... LOUDOUN... MONTGOMERY... HOWARD... FREDERICK AND CARROLL COUNTIES...
AT 453 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PENNY SIZE HAIL... AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THESE STORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM PARKTON TO ROXBURY MILLS TO TAYLORSTOWN... OR ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 10 MILES NORTH OF COCKEYSVILLE TO DAMASCUS TO 9 MILES NORTH OF LEESBURG... MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.
OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO BALTIMORE... OAKLAND... REISTERSTOWN... AND GAITHERSBURG. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH... PREPARE IMMEDIATELY FOR DAMAGING WINDS... DESTRUCTIVE HAIL... AND DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER... PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

geez it looks like the end of the world outside and i am supposed to meet Xis in 3 minutes... guess we are risking life AND limb out there today!

this is when somebody looks up at the sky and says "i'm sure it'll blow over" and then the deluge begins.

wish us luck!

- dats

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You aint gonna make it dude... run!!!!! I'm gonna pick up that new tennis game for the Wii, drink martinis, get drunk and try to play tennis with my wife. It should be pretty entertaining.

**EDIT** Just looked up the rainfall for last year at this time and it was 9.22 inches at DCA! We've only gotten up to 4.8 inches this month so I guess we have some catching up to do. Weird, it definitely seems like it's raining more this year. :?

geez it looks like the end of the world outside and i am supposed to meet Xis in 3 minutes... guess we are risking life AND limb out there today!

this is when somebody looks up at the sky and says "i'm sure it'll blow over" and then the deluge begins.

wish us luck!

- dats

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are you single-handedly trying to kill off everyone on this forum? first you play "tennis to the death" with sup after stuffing him with champagne, cake, strawberries, honey pigs, beer, and then slowing roasting him on the courts, then you ask bionic xis to meet you during a thunderstorm, brandishing your tennis lightening rods?!?

are you single-handedly trying to kill off everyone on this forum? first you play "tennis to the death" with sup after stuffing him with champagne, cake, strawberries, honey pigs, beer, and then slowing roasting him on the courts, then you ask bionic xis to meet you during a thunderstorm, brandishing your tennis lightening rods?!?

woooo rain! i've never been happier to see rain. practice match for today got canceled. gonna take viktorz's advice and go home, take some advil, and go to bed!

topaz - i've been using my backup racquet. it has kgut pro on it. i'm definitely not a poly user. i had it on for a day and had to cut it out. definitely not for me.

jrk/topaz - but i love my racquets so much, even though they're 12.4 oz but if they give me more problems, i might give viktor's racquet a demo, head xtreme2damax! oh and i preordered virtua tennis too. but i have the crappy wii so it'll probably look terrible and not be even worth playing.

thanks everyone for the advice! lets go tournament tomorrow!! and i listened to topaz and actually ordered some good food for dinner. pork chops with rice and an order of spring rolls from the chinese place across the street from work. oh yeah!! :grin:

thanks everyone for the advice! lets go tournament tomorrow!! and i listened to topaz and actually ordered some good food for dinner. pork chops with rice and an order of spring rolls from the chinese place across the street from work. oh yeah!! :grin:

Seriously, as a person who has never played tennis in the DC area, but would like to on a regular basis, how does one play from May to October when there's a thunderstorm every other day? Even when there's not a thunderstorm, it's as humid as a sauna.

Seriously, as a person who has never played tennis in the DC area, but would like to on a regular basis, how does one play from May to October when there's a thunderstorm every other day? Even when there's not a thunderstorm, it's as humid as a sauna.

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Didn't you know DC was built on a swamp?????

Weather's a little weird this year, but you got to get used to the humidity. It's usually pretty easy to play outside most of the year. Sometimes even into November or December.